First time with Black Ice ????

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Ok guys, I have finally made it to polishing wheels.

I have noticed a few small spots that have "voids" in the bore. These are small and I am using graphite (rules ).

I am trying to figure if I am doing something wrong? I looked at the bores before starting, but did not check to this degree. Please look at the pictures and see what you think. I really appreciate any guidance that you can give!!!!!!

I did use the tamia swab and fluffy pipe cleaners. I also used a 0.0975" pin gauge to hold the wheel while polishing the inner and outer hubs along with the wheel edge. The pin gauge was "eased" on the end so that no sharp edges were left before the wheel was placed on it.

The two voids that you can see are the only ones in this wheel.

These pictures are after using the 1st step polish.

Thanks!

 

[B_Regal Racing]

Those are no problem. They look to be in the center of the bore. The wheel rides on the journals on the axle. The voids will never touch the axle at all. Make sure you polish the hubs and the wheel edge that will touch the rail. Both look like there is a bit more work to be done. My hubs and inner wheel edge would look as good as my bores.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Those are no problem. They look to be in the center of the bore. The wheel rides on the journals on the axle. The voids will never touch the axle at all. Make sure you polish the hubs and the wheel edge that will touch the rail. Both look like there is a bit more work to be done. My hubs and inner wheel edge would look as good as my bores.

B Regal,

Thanks for the reply. I am curious if these were caused by something I did or may have been flaws in the bore to begin with?

I am not able to groove my axles, but I think because of how the weight sits on the wheel and the axle, I agree that these spots should not have a significant effect on it's performance.

I did put some small scratches in a couple of the bores along with some minute scratching on a couple of the outer hubs. This has been a real learning process for me. I have over 10 hours in the polish so far on 4 sets of wheels. That is thru the third step of the process. I am waiting a couple of days before doing step #4.

The good news is that I can shift some wheels around and use the ones with the minor scratches on the outer hub as a DFW as the wheel should not ride on the axle head (at least that is what I am thinking).

Again, I am curious as to the why of the defect just as much as how much it might affect performance.

 

[B_Regal Racing]

Every scratch, nick, and flaw affects speed in some form. Racing pro, I'm getting more and more particular. I don't know how much time the pros spend prepping wheels, but for me, its the bulk of my prep work for sure. 10 hours might not be unreasonable for someone starting out doing 4 wheels, not sure. I have a bit of a process and it does not take that long, but it does take a while. With things like nicks, etc., I would keep a log/notes on each car and use that information to compile how much time a nick would cost you. At some point, you will not tolerate a nick in a surfaces that would cause additional friction, but for now, if the bores are polished to the best of your ability, do not dwell over the loss of speed that nick may or may not cause. Just race it....

 

[Cramjet]

You can polish the inner hubs and wheel at the same time. What I do is I put some of the #1 polish with my finger lightly on the surfaces you want to polish. Then I take one of those cotton rounds you can get that women use to clean off their makeup with the smooth side and rough side. I think they are called "white cloud" at Walmart. Use the rough side with the #1 polish and set it on a piece of foam. I use a mouse pad. Then push down and turn the wheel left and right. You will be surprised how much you can get done in a short time. Then flip it over and use the smooth side to finish.

The inside of the bore, from what I see, looks plenty good for graphite. If it were for oil though, you need to get one of those jewelers loupes like what John sells here or B Regal uses a pocket microscope I think. Your success with oil would depend much more on the condition of the surface. With the jewelers loupe, you shine light from the other end to light up the inside of the bore. Use some sort of cloth to set on top of the light to filter out some of the glare and you will see the texture better. You know, if you decide to run with us after this.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

You can polish the inner hubs and wheel at the same time. What I do is I put some of the #1 polish with my finger lightly on the surfaces you want to polish. Then I take one of those cotton rounds you can get that women use to clean off their makeup with the smooth side and rough side. I think they are called "white cloud" at Walmart. Use the rough side with the #1 polish and set it on a piece of foam. I use a mouse pad. Then push down and turn the wheel left and right. You will be surprised how much you can get done in a short time. Then flip it over and use the smooth side to finish.

The inside of the bore, from what I see, looks plenty good for graphite. If it were for oil though, you need to get one of those jewelers loupes like what John sells here or B Regal uses a pocket microscope I think. Your success with oil would depend much more on the condition of the surface. With the jewelers loupe, you shine light from the other end to light up the inside of the bore. Use some sort of cloth to set on top of the light to filter out some of the glare and you will see the texture better. You know, if you decide to run with us after this.

Cram,

Thanks for the ideas on the inner hub and wheel edge. Those were taking the longest, especially the wheel edge. I may give that a try.

Thanks for the idea on the loop. I already have one (40x). I have been using a white cloth over a flashlight when I use the loop. I just didn't have enough hands/fingers to make it alll happen for the pictures. That is another idea I picked up from this WONDERFUL place!!!!

I know I have some small mistakes on some of the 15 wheels. However none of them are what most would consider unusable. I have a couple of cars that are going to run just for fun, so I will use the less than pristine wheels on those

Thanks again for everything.

 

[MrRoadWarrior]

You have to be very careful with pipe cleaners because of that metal tip. They are excellent as long as there isn't a sharp edge. If you have repeated trouble with your pipe cleaners (I've been there) it's ok to use just the Tamiya swabs. Hobby Lobby sells them if you need more.

Go back over this wheel with the #1 and those marks should go away.

 

[robo4881]

Do you do any sanding on the wheel edge before polishing. I polished the heck out of the wheel edge and I still have what I'm assuming is the machining lines similar to his picture on the wheel edge. In afraid to get too aggressive with something more abrasive without knowing for sure for fear of screwing the wheel up. Makes for an expensive mistake.

 

[B_Regal Racing]

robo - send me a pm and i will tell you what i do. i'm not a pro by any means, but maybe it will help you.

 

[Cramjet]

You have to be very careful with pipe cleaners because of that metal tip. They are excellent as long as there isn't a sharp edge. If you have repeated trouble with your pipe cleaners (I've been there) it's ok to use just the Tamiya swabs. Hobby Lobby sells them if you need more.

Go back over this wheel with the #1 and those marks should go away.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Do you do any sanding on the wheel edge before polishing. I polished the heck out of the wheel edge and I still have what I'm assuming is the machining lines similar to his picture on the wheel edge. In afraid to get too aggressive with something more abrasive without knowing for sure for fear of screwing the wheel up. Makes for an expensive mistake.

Robo,

I too am struggling a bit with getting the inner wheel edge to polish up as nice as the bore. I worked on them a bit more after the pictures and they do look better after step two, but they are still not as "shiny" as the bore. It is something that I still need to figure out.

Like you, I don't want to ruin good wheels.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Cram,

I had seen that video once before and now have a much better appreciation of it! I am quite careful, but I still managed to scratch one of the bores lightly. I now realize that if I can't concentrate or am getting tired that I need to quit. You need really good focus to make sure that you don't touch the wheels with that pipe cleaner tip. It is amazing how little it takes to leave a mark in the bore or the outer wheel hub. It is DEFINITELY a learning process!

The good news is that I now know what a scratch looks like in a bore and will have NO problem picking that out ever again.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

You have to be very careful with pipe cleaners because of that metal tip. They are excellent as long as there isn't a sharp edge. If you have repeated trouble with your pipe cleaners (I've been there) it's ok to use just the Tamiya swabs. Hobby Lobby sells them if you need more.

Go back over this wheel with the #1 and those marks should go away.

I decided to not go thru the bores again as it appeared that I would need to take at least another 0.005" out of the bore to maybe get them out. Because of their location and because I am required to use graphite, I think that they will be ok. They shouldn't be on the weight bearing portion of the hub/axle, so I am thinking they will fill with graphite when I burnish the wheels.

I am really curious as to why they appeared? I may need to buy some more extra wheels and just practice on them. That way I can see just how much each pass will remove when I find a defect.

Thanks for the ideas and thoughts!

 

[B_Regal Racing]

Stop using pipe cleaners and try these:

http://www.derbydad4hire.com/No-Scratch-Wheel-Bore-Applicators-POL-CLE.htm

 

[M Tull]

[QUOTE=" Then I take one of those cotton rounds you can get that women use to clean off their makeup with the smooth side and rough side. I think they are called "white cloud" at Walmart. Use the rough side with the #1 polish and set it on a piece of foam. [/QUOTE]

Cramjet, is this what you use?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/White-Cloud-Cotton-Rounds-100-count/23788427

 

[Cramjet]

Yes. I have those and the ones on which one side is rough. I don't use the ones which are soft on both sides as much as I use the ones with the more abrasive side on one end because you have both steps in one pad. I would just get the pack with the one side rough, one side smooth.